In the raising of hogs, it is conventional to provide a feed trough having both a dry feed dispensing device and a watering device mounted thereon, which devices each have a shut off valve or element activated by the hog's snout when dispensing of feed or water is desired. In one known device, there is provided a vertically elongate chamber for containing dry feed therein, and the bottom of this chamber is closed by a closure plate or valve which is hinged at one edge of the chamber and is suitably counterbalanced so as to normally remain closed. By pressing its snout against the counterbalanced portion of the closure plate, the hog can open the plate to permit dispensing of dry feed. With this mechanism, however, it has been observed that the feed adjacent the closure plate picks up moisture from the hog's snout, and hence the feed tends to bridge and thus prevent free flow of feed from the feeding device, even when the closure plate is opened. Further, adjusting the feed dispensing rate is difficult.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved dispensing device for dry feed, particularly for hogs, which feed dispensing device can be actuated by a hog but which is believed to significantly overcome the problems associated with prior feeders, as described above.
In the improved feed dispensing device of the present invention, the bottom of the feed chamber defines a discharge opening which is normally closed by a valve element which is activated by the hog. This valve element includes a closure part which normally closes off the discharge opening, and also includes an elongate actuator part which projects downwardly therefrom so as to be engaged and displaced by the hog. The dispensing device also includes a sleeve part which is fixed to the housing and projects downwardly from the discharge opening in surrounding relationship to the actuator part. This sleeve requires that the hog contact only the lowermost free end of the elongate actuator part, and maintains the hog's snout spaced downwardly a substantial distance below the discharge opening, thereby effectively preventing moisture from gaining access to the region of the feed discharge opening. The closure part is disposed within the feed storage chamber and has a generally downwardly opening, cup-shaped configuration to control the dispensing rate of the feed.
Other objects and purposes of the present invention will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.